Bird-Watching Can Help Boost Ecotourism Industry, says UN
Environment Agency

New York, May 10 2012 -
Bird-watching, a popular hobby around the world, can present
significant economic opportunities for countries through
sustainable tourism, the United Nations environment agency
said today, stressing that States should increase efforts to
support this growing industry.

“Birding plays a
significant and growing part in the tourism industry, and
creates direct and indirect economic benefits for many
countries and communities, also amongst developing
countries,” said the Acting Executive Secretary of the
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild
Animals (CMS), Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, in a news
release ahead of World Migratory Bird Day, which is
observed on 12-13 May.

Initiated in 2006, the Day is an
annual campaign organized by CMS and the African-Eurasian
Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) – two
intergovernmental wildlife treaties administered by the UN
Environment Programme (UNEP), which also backs the campaign
– and devoted to celebrating migratory birds and promoting
their conservation worldwide.

In a news release, UNEP
highlighted that global spending on all areas of ecotourism
is increasing by about six times the industry-wide rate of
growth, and underlined the potential economic benefits of
bird-watching in particular.

In the United States, for
example, a survey by authorities puts the economic value
generated every year by bird and other wildlife watchers at
around $32 billion in that country alone. This amount
corresponds to the gross domestic product of Costa Rica,
which is also a popular destination for US
birdwatchers.

In Scotland, the Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds found that last year, between $8-12
million is spent annually by tourists wishing to see
White-tailed Eagles on the Isle of Mull alone, and that four
per cent of jobs in Scotland are associated with wildlife
tourism.

World Migratory Bird Day seeks to spotlight
these benefits while also raising awareness of the
importance of protecting birds, which face a series of
challenges each year in their journeys.

“Conserving
migratory birds is highly challenging because their annual
migration often spans several countries, each governed by
its own jurisdiction and national conservation
strategies,” Ms. Mrema said.

Events to mark the Day are
due to take place in 70 countries, including bird festivals,
education programmes, presentations, film screenings and
bird watching trips, run by hundreds of volunteers and
organizations.

The Day will be followed by an AEWA
intergovernmental conference on migratory waterbirds, which
will take place on 14-18 May in La Rochelle, France, and
will focus on the role that wetlands play as a vital habitat
for migratory birds and people and as a source of
livelihoods for communities, particularly in Africa.

“It is absolutely critical that governments use the
forthcoming meeting, to continue to do all they can to work
together to try to safeguard, retain and where feasible
restore high quality habitats – and to begin to link the
conservation of migratory birds to human development and
livelihoods on a flyway scale,” said the Acting Executive
Secretary of AEWA, Marco Barbieri.

For more details go to
UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news

ENDS